Seahawks like the no-huddle, could use more of it

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Tarvaris Jackson and the Seahawks may be running more no-huddle this season. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)

RENTON — Maybe there’s something to the thought that the Seahawks play better when they play faster.

They sure did on Sunday. Seattle’s only touchdown drive was fueled by a no-huddle offense, something they’d yet to show this season outside of two-minute-drill situations, but a facet of their offense we may see more of as the season progresses.

That was the indication given by offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell on Wednesday.

“I think there’s a chance to see more of it. It’s something that we’ll determine by game plan, by game, by opponent, and seeing if it’s something that will help us,” Bevell said. “Then there’s also times that you may just jump into it because you’re not doing much and you want to change the tempo. There’s a lot of different scenarios when you go to it.”

Like when your offense can’t move the ball any other way? The Seahawks had gone more than six quarters without a touchdown before they switched to the no-huddle and finally punched it in in the third quarter of Sunday’s win over the Cardinals.

Quarterback Tarvaris Jackson said he’s fine with running it if it means the offense increases its production.

“It’s been good for us, so whatever works, I’m down for it,” Jackson said. “It’s been kind of effective for us. We’ve been able to move the ball a little bit with that. If we keep doing it I’m fine with it.”

Jackson said the no-huddle might make it easier for the Seahawks to run the ball, since defenses often fall into a “pass rush type mentality” and play more “vanilla” because they don’t have as much time to communicate.

“I just think we want to control the tempo and be able to keep the defense off guard,” running back Justin Forsett said. “I think it just helps execution and guys just feel like we can get in a rhythm faster that way.”

Bevell did point out the obvious downside to running the no-huddle with much frequency — that if you don’t move the chains, you leave your defense on the field for an awfully long time.

But it has its advantages, too.

“One, it simplifies things for your guys,” Bevell said. “They understand it’s a small package that we have, they can play fast, they can get up tempo, but it can go the other way on you too. You can run three plays in 40 seconds and now you’ve put your defense back out there. So you need to be successful with it as well.”

Pass protection may be aided by a quicker pace, too. Because defenses have less time to get organized, it’s much harder for them to disguise exotic blitzes and therefore easier for the quarterback to diagnose where pressure could be coming from and call out the corresponding protection changes, if necessary.

“If you get up to the line of scrimmage and they show it, you’ve got time to check,” Jackson said.